FOR TODAY, APRIL 21, 2020

Outside my window...
...it's midafternoon, the sky has clouded over a bit, and there's a wonderful breeze. You wouldn't believe that it's in the 70s out there; it feels really good instead of being too hot in the sun. And, wait, now the sun is back out. It always does turn up again like a bad penny.

I am thinking...
...it's ten days since I did a blog entry. There's really nothing to write about. When we go out, we are either at the pharmacy picking up some meds, or we're at the grocery store. If I hated going to the grocery store before this, I despise it more now: you have to wear masks, go one way up aisles (and I am forever going the wrong way or what I need is at the other end of an aisle I can't go up), and not find what you need (Lysol, disinfecting cleaning or hand wipes, and alcohol. And American cheese! With all the kids out of school, the moms must be stuffing what James calls "plastic cheese" down them every day for lunch! It's a wonder they're not all constipated.)

And all those wonderful, optimistic messages from advertisers on TV, promising "it will be okay soon" and "we'll be back"? They depress the hell out of me.

I am thankful...
...that we seem to have missed a bullet. James has been told since he was a little boy and suffered an insect sting that he is also allergic to penicillin. When he went into the Navy they performed a test, and gave him a red dog-tag that signified a penicillin allergy. So he's always had to have alternative antibiotic treatment. Well, a week or so ago he presented with symptoms of a mild UTI. We called the doctor and talked to the nurse practitioner, who was automatically going to prescribe ciproflaxin until he found out James was on the generic form of Plaquinel. Cipro and Plaq do not play together properly. So he prescribed two other antibiotics, only one of which the Kaiser pharmacist let us have because one of them also interacted with the Plaquinel. So James took the other antibiotic, and in the meantime the doctor had him take another urine test.

Unhappily all those happy little germs were still racketing around in there. The doctor then actually called us, on a Saturday of all things, and said that James needed all the germs gone ASAP, and he could either take the Cipro, which might mess with his heart, or try amoxicillin and risk the allergic reaction. (Jolly nice choice, eh, chaps?) So Saturday morning we went up to Kaiser's TownPark office (where Urgent Care is) to pick up the amoxicillin, and we were "loaded for bear." Instead of taking the truck, I drove, and we brought our tablets, and I even brought one of the phone charge cords. I did not want to have to deal with the truck if James had to go to Urgent Care with an allergic reaction. I remembered that when I used to have allergy shots, Dr. Friedman and then Dr. Sturam would have me stay in the office for twenty minutes in case I had an allergic reaction to the shot. So James got the scrip and took the first pill, and down we sat, and I timed us for a half hour. Of course Kaiser didn't want anyone in the building unless they were picking up scrips or seeing a doctor, so the nurse came up to ask us why we were hanging around, and we gave her this very bad explanation, but I guess we finally got the message across because she sat us down where she too could keep an eye on James.

We waited the half hour. Nothing happened. So we left.

We appreciate that, God!
 
In the kitchen...
...we had midday dinner, so there are leftovers to put up. I got up for senior shopping this morning—fat lot of good that did me; even after "restocking" they have no Lysol, no disinfecting cleaning or hand wipes, no alcohol (at least I found yogurt!)—and bagged some turkey thighs, so we had that with Rice-a-Roni on the side.

I am wearing...
...a cadet-blue "Owly" t-shirt (look up "Owly" and "Andy Runton" and you'll find this delightful little guy) and blue-silver-and-white buffalo check pajama pants. And white Hanes socks.

I am creating...
...does this blog entry count? I did a little shopping this morning, washed two loads of clothes, made dinner, shelved a dozen or more books in the library, cleaned off two books I received last Tuesday and had in "quarantine," and started a project.

I am going...
...to finish the project this time, or get it to a more manageable state, at least. We have four boxes in the garage with old APAzines in them. Is everyone familiar with APAzines? One of my friends once referred to it as a very slow cocktail party. An APAzine was run by a coordinator. He or she set the date of the next zine, and arranged for collation of the zine, added covers, and kept up with who was contributing and who was not. APAzines usually ran 20 to 25 members. Some APAzines had themes: science fiction, or maybe more specifically Doctor Who or Star Trek, or sports (perhaps basketball or baseball specifically), book reviews, collecting of some sort, auto racing, stamps, etc. The two APAs we belonged to, "Myriad" and "500 Year Diary," were general interest APAs. You wrote about what interested you, others wrote what interested them, and then in every issue, you commented on the other zines in the issue and the other participants commented back to you. Every month, or bimonthly, or whatever the interval was, you went to Kinko's or Office Depot and copied off your zine, usually five more zines than how many members were in the zine, so that "spec copies" could be given to people interested in participating and getting on a waiting list. Then you delivered (if you lived close) or mailed the copies to the editor, who would collate all the zines together, and then send every member a copy of the APA, and it was read, and comments made, and a new zine printed next time.

Anyway, I think I'm the only one who still has my copies. They've sat in the garage for fourteen years, and they're taking up the space where the rollator should go. But I find that, although I don't have the time nor the inclination to re-read them, I find myself reluctant to throw them out. It's like throwing away pieces of my friends. But I did start today. I got all the "500 Year Diary" issues in one box, and then cleaned out one of the three boxes of "Myriad," keeping only the volume ("Myriad" used to run to three to four stapled 8 1/2x11 volumes) with our zine, "Flying Dreams," in it. (Ideally then I want to remove our zine from the volume and just keep that, but it involves staple pulling and will take a while.) I quit after the first box because the remaining volumes are so heavy I can only do so many at the time and still be able to lift the garbage bag into the trash can and then wheel the trash can out to the curb. I will only be able to do one box at the time. It's still sad to do.

I am wondering...
...if we can ever go back to a normal life again. Even if the COVID-19 mutates into a less infectious or less lethal form, or if they develop a vaccine, aren't we now always going to think "What if another one is waiting around the corner?" Can we ever go into crowds again—science fiction conventions, ARTC performances, Christmas markets, museums—without worrying even the tiniest bit? I'm hoping this at least makes people cleaner. A month ago I was discussing with the waitress at Tin Drum the utter absurdity of having to tell adults to wash their hands. Yet I used to work at CDC and would be aghast at the women who walked out of the bathroom without washing their hands!

I am reading...
...Tristan Gooley's The Nature Instinct.

I am hoping...
...to go to a bookstore soon. I'm having withdrawal symptoms. And with doctors' appointments, bad weather, changed plans, and health hiccups, we never got up to McKay's in Chattanooga to trade in the books in four full Xerox-paper boxes that are turning into five Xerox-paper boxes. And it would be nice to go down to Warner Robins and see my sister-in-law, who's been laid up with a bum foot, and my mother-in-law. They still don't have their Christmas gifts.

I am looking forward to...
...more freedom when it's safe to do so. You know, it's been easier on we introverts during this quarantine than other people. We literally wish sometimes to stay home and be left alone to read, work on art projects and hobbies, have a quiet walk or go on a run, listen to podcasts, binge-watch television, blog...and, again, just read! We aren't suffering like the folks who like to go clubbing, or go to bars, or just hang out in noisy restaurants on weekends (why is why you'll never see us in Chili's). But we still like to venture out to do the quiet things we like: meet with friends, go to bookstores and museums, have lunch out together. And we miss it.

I am learning...
...well, trying...to read weather signs from Tristan Gooley. There is so much our instinctive selves have forgotten due to technology. I love technology, but sometimes it's as much as a trap as a help.

Around the house...
...James is teleworking. Tucker is on the deck being a wild puppy. Snowy is singing along to Leo Laporte "The Tech Guy." Occasionally the curtains billow as the breeze.

And I need to go fetch the clothes out of the dryer.

I am pondering...
...if I should order Madeleine L'Engle's new book. These are short stories her granddaughter found in her files after she died, ones that she considered good enough to publish (most of the others were not good, or only fragments). I miss getting a new Madeleine L'Engle, and the reviews say that although the stories aren't anything special, they do show her growth as an author.

A favorite quote for today...
...not a favorite, but I found this for my journal (it seems appropriate):
“Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”
                                                                                                                . . . Anonymous

One of my favorite things...
...chocolate. Alas, I've had mine for the day.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Well, since every single one of both our doctors cancelled all our appointments, but apparently James' nurse visit with the podiatrist was too important to cancel without the dang nurse reading us the riot act, we have to drive all the way to Glenlake tomorrow and go in a building full of potentially sick people to get his toenails examined! But he arranged to pick up a prescription there, and I guess we can go by Tin Drum, since it's two weeks and time for my extra protein again.

A peek into my day...
Here's a pic of me from last week reading a bound version of the old "St. Nicholas" magazine.




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